Remember that pointers are the double size in a 64bit memory layout. Depending on their structure, your programs might consume more memory. But you get to break

Remember that pointers are the double size in a 64bit memory layout. Depending on their structure, your programs might consume more memory. But you get to break the memory limit of a single program and you get rid of some of the cruft in the x86 ISA. I've had few problems with a 64 bit Ubuntu on an AMD64 Athlon. The most notable is 32bit video codecs and flash. Interestingly, you can play Homeworld 2 and Warcraft III fine in Wine even on 64 bit. The primary is problem is not that we progressed to 64 bit. It is that some operating systems and programs are still 32 bit dependent.